For three or four days now, I have played nothing but "This War of Mine". I am a veteran of Iraq and I remember all too well the hardships it brought upon the civilians, especially in the beginning of the war. I remember being heartbroken at the sight of children crying and begging for food on the side of the road.

This "game" puts you square in the middle of the experiences of those civilians. It is a brutal, kill or be killed world - where an act of unimaginable violence may let you live another day, but it can also break your heart and soul. Some days, you are offered a chance at compassion - and if you take that chance, risking your own safety and resources for others, you may find you feel a bit better about yourself.

Then there are the times where you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. You are unarmed, scavenging for anything to save your friends, and you peep through a keyhole and see a soldier brutally beating - and possible worse - a woman. He has an AK-47, you have a lockpick and a rumbling stomach. So you sit there and watch - afraid that any noise may turn his violent attention upon you. When it is all done, you hide until he leaves and then, shamefully, pick over the bloodied body of the woman for anything she may have scavenged before the soldier got to her.

This is "This War of Mine" - a dark, beautiful, haunting, exhilerating, and horrible tale.

What's that tagline, "The first casualty of war is innocence"? It applies here - in a way you would have never imagined coming from a computer game.

This is an INCREDIBLE game. It was recommended to me by a close friend because, me being a former war refugee from the Balkans, he thought I might find the content "a bit familiar." It went a bit further than that, in fact it kind turned out to be some uncanny early-childhood simulator for me. I still remember the visceral terror of being a child in that war; I will never forget howling and begging my mother not to go outside to buy bread, out of fear that she would be shot dead by a sniper. Asking why my grandmother couldn't go instead.

This game captures moments like that with a masterful hand. It is never heavy or hamfisted. I can't explain how well the developers have encapsulated the hoplessness and the mundane brutality of the Balkan civil war, and it leads me to think that at least one key person involved in the development of this game had to have lived through it, too. The tone is just perfect, striking that difficult balance between terror and absurdity, and reminds me of all the films I love that came out of Former Yugoslavia after the war. This is not Angelina Jolie painting Balkan politics with a broad brush dipped in ignorance and a skewed western perspective insensitive of nuance--this is an authentic work of art that is sensitive to the complexities of its subject matter and the individual stories of the thousands of people whose lives were shaped and altered forever by this horrible, unnecessary war.

It's an emotional playthrough, even for people who haven't had any experience with the historical event. It is a "war game" like no other and I can't recommend it enough. Take it from someone who was there.

This War of Mine portrays war from a citizen's perspective. We start our surival with 3 or 4 chosen characters and a shelter, located in an abandoned house. The supplies the hideout run out very quickly.Our only option is theft. Stealing means surviving the next day or two. We start hiding in shadows and sneaking. And now comes a very hard choice: what about killing. I played two times. First time, i got into pensioners house. They spotted me and ran up to the door. My friends were starving. I had no choice. I attacked the man and punched him twuce. He died after two hits in the head. The woman locked herself in the toilet. I took away their food and left the house. I still have that particular moment in mind. . Is killing and stealing in order to get some food morally better then starving? Who are we decide to decide upon other people's lives?

10 hours in review: I hate this game.

I am a completionist. I mostly play RPGs and strategy games. I like to win, so my gaming style primarily involves achieving goals, expanding my powerbase, meeting my targets, improving my strength, all of which to end in a smashing victory.

This War of Mine offers very little and frequently none of these things. The gameplay is inherently simple. You have a few survivors in a badly damaged house. During the day they can do simple tasks, like building furniture, patching a hole in the wall or something else to help you survive, cooking meals, distilling hooch, or resting from nightly activities. During the night one person can go out to scavenge for badly needed supplies, while the rest sleeps (hopefully in a bed) or stands guard, hoping you won't get raided during the night.

Rather than adding and expanding, the game constantly offers straightforward but difficult choices. Does the scavenger bring home raw materials today so somebody can patch a hole in the wall, or does he bring medication in case somebody gets sick or wounded? Do I risk life and limb to steal from armed bandits or inflict myself with moral guilt stealing from the defenseless elderly? Do I give my last piece of food to the wounded guy who has to stand guard tonight or to the sick man on the bed? Do I trade away my last bandages while nobody's wounded so we can all eat tomorrow? There's no do-overs either so I am stuck with my choices. Beyond just restarting the entire story of course.

This is what makes This War of Mine so damn good.

Every day in the game, it's one bad choice or another, all for the sake of staving off immediate disaster. For one more day. For the sake of survival. For the hope that things will be a little bit better tomorrow, if only you can get through the problems right now. Can you survive without resorting to theft? If you can't, who do you steal from, how much do you risk in the process? What about murder, when does that get justified by survival?

If as a player you do not get upset by stealing or murdering for the sake of your group of survivors, then your survivors will. They get sad and depressed, even suicidal, from committing atrocities. Morale is an important part of the game, and the horrorific actions you commit to in the name of surviving are as relevant as the ones that are inflicted upon you. Maybe even moreso.

Because war is horrible and this glimpse of what living in a warzone is like, just so. It is atrocious. It is insecure. It comes with the realization that while this game has plenty abstractions, these stories are real. There are people who have lived through this. Who are trying to live through it in the world today. Who probably will be trying to live through it in the future.

Who only want to survive. Just one more day. Maybe tomorrow will be better.


I have to stop writing now. Marko is sick, but he's the only one who is uninjured after last night when bandits tried to raid our shelter again. We have some rat meat left over so I'd best cook him a meal. Maybe he'll finally find some medicine tonight. Hopefully the trader will come by today, we have a few bottles of moonshine ready. If not, I might drink it. All of it. Who am I kidding. Tomorrow won't be better. Things will only get worse.

Entered a building with other people.
The building's description had said "Danger" which ment hostiles. Bandits.
I grabbed my knife and was ready for those bandits.
I saw one bandit and after breaking in through a window, she ran calling for backup.
One guy showed up with a shotgun and chased me off but I waited.
He searched, and couldn't find me and then I got the drop on him.
We fought, he couldn't shoot, and three stabs later he fell.
I grabbed the shotgun and went inside.
My friends needed food, and these bandits were killers. They deserved what they got.
I grabbed food, supplies, and another bandit showed up!
I fired at them with the shotgun, and they dropped with a gurgling scream.
One bandit ran after me! Surely they had a knife!
No... she ran past me to the man's corpse.
She was crying. She called me a murderer.
I fired again and she dropped.
There was silence then, and I had to hurry up and grab the rest of the supplies before more bandits showed up.
I opened a closet, and snagged the food.
But, the inventory of the closet said "Private"
Someone owned this wardrobe?
I looked outside toward the other building, and between the two.. a garden someone built?
One guy had mentioned they were running low on meds.
This.... no.. it couldn't be. It just couldn't be!
This wasn't... this wasn't an abandoned building being picked clean.
This was another group's safehouse.
These people are.... were.... survivors!
...and "I" was the bandit.

"War is hell"
This game is not about a soldier who destroyes the whole army.
This game is not about a massive cool looking war.
This game is about people like you and me,surviving in hell named war.
Atmoshepre of this game is soo outstanding,that you can feel the pain that war brings upon characters
Also this game gonna make you cry like a ♥♥♥♥♥ when someone from your crew dies.
This game shows you real war,without censorship
It is highly depressing,but i still recommend to buy it.
It is a highly unique experience and if you are sick of games where war is a one man murdering an army,play this,it will be worth it

(FINISHED) For the next 7 days the profits from the game goes towards helping Ukraine.
Show some love to Ukraine and to these beautiful developers! ♥

OVER 850 000$ BOYS AND GIRLS https://twitter.com/11bitstudios/status/1499736525357129730

I was glad. Things were going quite well for my four survivors. It was around Day 27. They had just fixed a broken guitar and a little bit before the nightfall Katia was playing the guitar and Kalina was listening to her play and sang(?). I thought it was heartwarming.

Then it was time to send Katia to scavenge. I chose St. Mary's Church and wasn't too worried, because I thought it would be relatively safe. There wasn't much to find though and then I saw a man and made Katia sneak a little bit closer, so that I could hear what the man was mumbling. I hid Katia and waited. I figured the man wasn't interesting and thought it would be better to leave, and just when Katia stepped out of her hiding spot the man found what he had been looking for, turned around and spotted Katia.

He had a gun. Katia didn't have any weapons. I think he shot Katia or then I just decided it was best to flee, as he approached Katia threateningly, and after that he started shooting. I wish I had guided Katia to a different route, but I didn't. She started to climb the ladders and was shot to death. I was shocked.

In the morning, seeing my other survivors sad, especially little Kalina, was heartbreaking. Everything had seemed to go well and now it was just a distant memory. I had lost my bargainer and it was harder to play with only two adults. I knew I had made mistakes and I cursed my timing, maybe Katia would have survived if I had waited longer, maybe I could have hidden her somewhere if I had guided her to a different route. Pavle or Bruno said something like "she was just here and now she isn't" and that's exactly how I felt. It was sad and it gives me shivers.

I didn't dare to return to St. Mary's Church, but I want to explore it when I start a new game. The other three survived.

Send Katia to scavenge the ‘Quite House’.
The preview says it has food and meds and isn’t dangerous.
Sounds like a good shout.
Turns out it was just an old couple living there, doing their thing.
Walk into house.
Old man begs me not to take their stuff coz his wife is sick.
Feel bad.
Take their stuff anyway.
Go home. Now Katia is depressed coz she robbed the old couple.
Try to get Emilia to comfort her.
Emilia is s*** at comforting.
Katia is suicidal.
I feel really bad.
Decide to go back and try to return their stuff.
Maybe I can give them this diamond I found.
Go back to the Quite House.
Can’t find old couple.
Go upstairs.
Old couple is dead.
Quit game.
Sit in corner contemplating what I’ve done.

I'm 5 hours in, and that's a straight 5 hours. Most survival games I've played are either pretty forgiving, or shallow in character.

This one is neither. In the beginning of my hours I was hopeful and treated others I met with the same kidness I normally would, as the going was good. I shared my supplies, and took in others that needed shelter. Food was used daily and luxuries were built.

36 days later (and still going) the survivors that are left are battered men; hungry, sick and tired. We've had to kill to survive, even innocent people, because the only other option was our own death. We have stolen and traded our way through the cold-snap, and the outlook is grim.

All that matters now is lasting the few days until outside aid arrives. But in the end, will that really matter? We're not the same people we started as, and the atrocities we've commited are ones we have to live with forever.


I highly reccomend this game, but be warned: Your decisions WILL have severe consequences, you WILL hate yourself for the evils you have done, necissary as they may feel. You will learn to know the survivors, what things they find acceptable, who can talk to whom best. Most of all you will think "Maybe next run, I can do things differently..". I know I am at this point, as it looks like my first run will end in failure and misery.

10/10, am now broken, tired and hungry IRL. Soundtrack matches the atmosphere, graphics are a little jarring at first but become normal after a little bit. Gameplay is solid and needs very little introduction, and you will want to think your decisions through a few times... It all matters in the end.